Book Reviews: Divergent & The Selection

I am not sure what it is about the young adult dystopian genre that’s drawing me in.  Slap in a strong female character and a couple of cute boys and I’m definitely going to read your book.  One can liken the genre to a metaphor for my own life, stuck here in Orlando playing by society’s rules.  My love for this genre started with “The Giver” by Lois Lowry in 6^th Grade, then a deep intellectual study of “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, my Junior year in college.  A couple of years later the Hunger Games series caught in mainstream. With that series over, I longed to fill the page turning void. 

Enter Divergent by Veronica Roth. This is one of those books that mix Hunger Games and The Giver. I read it in one day, which is a symptom of the dystopian genre. This book revolves around a society separated by traits like “Courage,” “Intellectual,” and “Generous”.  Not exactly the city names, but you get the idea. Upon reaching a certain age, teens get to pick between staying in their designated group, or choose to go through a trial process of joining another group. Our main female character, decides to leave her family and move to a more aggressive society. The initiation process is terrible, but of course she excels and falls for a mentor.  I think the weakest part of the story is the main character. The author made a point to inform us of her age right from the beginning, which disconnects the reader. I did enjoy the plot and the cute love story line. While still clever, the plot tips its hand too much about what will happen. Much like the trains in the story, the "ah ha" moments, you can see from a mile away. This book is part of a trilogy with the last book scheduled to come out in 2013. I am on hold for the 2^nd book Insurgent, but it’s probably going to be a few weeks before it is my turn.

In previous posts, I’ve discussed how much I love ebooks from the library, the bad part is that if a book is popular then there’s a long wait time. Some people do not know how to return a book properly and then 20 days later it automatically returns into the system. Then again, it is free, so no complaining! 

Yesterday I finished the PowerScore Logical Reasoning LSAT book and decided to give myself a break. I started with a nice cold soda and downloaded The Selection by Kiera Cass. I waited for this book for about two months from the library, but yay. As you all know, I often read books straight through, then have a book hang over the next day. 

I thoroughly enjoyed The Selection. Featuring a strong female character and a good and kind Prince, The Selection is about a newly formed nation trying to find a Princess for the good Prince Maxon. Enter America, a teenager from a low caste, who wins a lottery to enter The Selection and meet (and hopefully marry) the Prince.  Despite her efforts to avoid attention, America manages to catch the prince's eye with her individuality and honest personality. BAM! Love Triangle and female-on-female drama. It's a trilogy, with Book 2 coming out in 2013. I cannot wait. The book is sorta predictable, but not terribly so. I recommend it! I suspect in future books the actual dystopian part will come more into play, but I am perfectly content with seeing how the love triangle plays out.  

If I ever thought of a book to write myself, it would be very much like The Selection. The character choices and personalities are very similar to the characters floating around in my mind. My friend, Mike Costello, who is a published author himself, encourages me to shut up about what I would like to write, and just do it. I have a story in mind, I have the characters in mind, what I do not have is the time (possibly the confidence). Sharing your thoughts and creating a world is a very personal thing.  I get that there will always be critics –people who cannot do better themselves, but I’m not too worried about it. Becoming a published writer is not as difficult as it used to be. The Internet has made e-publishing much easier. So, much like studying, I just need to sit down, shut up, and type. 

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